Barney Wiget's Blog, page 23

Jesus is Political

It’s a mistake to portray Jesus as an apolitical preacher with nothing to say to his socially prejudiced and politically charged context. In fact, he was and is deeply political, but on his own terms with his own political priorities that fit no one particular party. Nevertheless, it could be said that his disruptive politics is antithetical to the interests of superpowers.

In the interest of separating Church from State we can’t allow ourselves to segregate our moral values from public life. “Those Christians who try to avoid all political discussions and engagement are essentially casting a vote for the social status quo,” says Timothy Keller. “Since no human society reflects God’s justice and righteousness perfectly, supposedly apolitical Christians are supporting many things that displease God. So to not be political is to be political.”

It’s political when we say that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. It is in that sense that the church is a political community. “You can’t be indifferent to politics,” says Peter Wehner, “because politics is about human lives, and if you get your politics wrong there’s a huge human cost. And if you get your politics right, you can create the conditions for human flourishing and human dignity.”

A good place to begin framing our political opinions would be to put ourselves on the hillside and, along with his spiritually famished and politically curious crowd, listen intently to Jesus’ words. What we hear should do more than pique our spiritual interest. It might just overturn some of our notions about how Christ-followers should conduct themselves politically.

Though his kingdom can’t be defined by a party or by a certain form of government, it most certainly does affect the kind of political convictions we form, policies we support, and politicians we choose to represent us. Among other things, politics matters to God and should to us. He didn’t set us free from our personal sin so we could keep our social sins for ourselves!

These are excerpts from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 4 of 6)

I’m praying for the president and first lady to fully recover from COVID-19. Though a harsh critic of his presidency, I recognize him as a fellow image bearer and as a beloved of God. I have no desire for him to be sick or worse.

Nevertheless, I will proceed to make available this series of posts on his danger to America as its leader. I mean no disrespect of him while his prognosis remains unsure, and I wish him well. But I feel it imperative to finish publishing these thoughts prior to the election on November 3rd.

“Trump has sent the annual budget deficit and the national debt skyrocketing; decimated the Department of State; gutted the Environmental Protection Agency; taken defense funds to try to build a wall to ward off immigrants from the south; taken no action against Russian aggression in Ukraine or its interference in our 2016 and 2020 election campaigns; taken the side of Putin against our own intelligence community and many of our allies; and applauded authoritarian figures in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, the Philippines, and beyond.”  Ron Sider

We’ve all heard interviews with people on the street saying in essence that there is nothing Donald Trump coud do to lose their support. I find that claim entirely moronic. Would they say that of their dentist? Would they keep going back to him even if he pulled ten of the wrong teeth and broke their jaw while doing it? Theirs is not a well thought out political commitment but the sort of no-turning-back, all-or-nothing, fatal embrace offered in spite of his ineptitude and sociopathy.

Among our list of dangers in the previous three posts we’ve noted such things as Mr. Trump’s relentless dishonesty, complete ignorance of the workings of government, gross mismanagement of the pandemic, conscienceless injustice to the poor, illegal bribery, a faux pro-life ethic, clear white nationalism, incompetence on foreign policy, and denial of the science of climate change.

Could there be anything more? Unfortunately, yes. Let’s talk this time about bribery, firearms, and misogyny.

• Bribery is a clear and present danger to the democratic process.

Donald Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives for shaking down a foreign country for dirt on a political rival, which amounts to bribery. In dictatorial regimes that sort of criminal behavior among politicians is routine. But a democratic republic by the people and for the people can’t survive in such an atmosphere of manipulation and graft. It’s a violation of the Constitution; not to mention profoundly immoral.  Even people in his own party were willing to admit this and some even voted to impeach.

Democracy requires that our elected officials are able to compromise with each other when it is possible and to co-exist when it is not. Donald Trump has shown for his entire term that he is not one of those people. His fans praise him for being a “wrecking ball” and drainer of the “swamp.” Pastor Robert Jeffress said in praise of Mr. Trump’s style of governing, “I want the meanest, toughest SOB I can find.”

I’ll concede that mental toughness, emotional stability, and the strength to stand on one’s convictions are all necessary traits in a world leader. But, frankly I see all but three of those qualities in our president. His incompetence to work with lawmakers to find common ground with whom he disagrees is well documented. As such, he is danger to our civic fabric.

 “By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.” Proverbs 29:4

“The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.” Proverbs 17:23

“A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.” Proverbs 28:16

• His resistance to common sense gun laws is a danger to our schools, churches, and citizens everywhere.

From deep inside the pocket of the NRA he appeals to fawning fans by citing his favorite Amendment to the Constitution (the 2nd), propagandizes that his opponents are coming to take our guns, and proposes that teachers bring guns to their classrooms.

Though they account for six times as many people shot in mass shootings than by other guns, this president has no objection to semi-automatic weapons with large capacity magazines in the hands of American citizens. It was in the musket era that our Founding Fathers established our right to bear arms. They couldn’t have foreseen a time when one crazed citizen could kill dozens, if not hundreds of people in the span of seconds.

“Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!” Amos 8:3

“Put your sword back in its place for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52

• His misogynistic sexual mores endanger the moral foundation of Americans, both men and women.

He was married three times, accused by more than two dozen women of being a serial sexual assaulter, cheated on all of his wives, and paid a porn star to quiet her about their affair during his wife’s pregnancy.

In reference to presidential moral behavior the Southern Baptist Convention passed what they called the “Resolution on Moral Character,” which says: “Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in society, and surely God’s judgment.” This they resolved in relation to Bill Clinton’s sexual sin in 1998. No such statement has been made concerning Donald Trump’s even more egregious behavior.

His public television cruelties are legendary. He called one woman a “dog,” another a “fat pig,” and yet another “disgusting.” He tweeted about one woman that she is “unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man––he made a good decision.” He once said, “It really doesn’t matter what the media writes as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.” He also said on a national stage during a campaign debate, “My fingers are long and beautiful, as it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.” Not what I would call presidential.

We’ve all heard the Access Hollywood tape where he said, “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p—-. You can do anything.” Not for nothin’, this is the same man who had the audacity to call Mexican immigrants “criminals and rapists.”

In a televised interview he said, “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” That’s just creepy! If one of his opponents said something like that, his sycophantic base would bury them. After all that he still had the nerve to claim, “Nobody respects women more than Donald Trump, I’ll tell you. Nobody respects women more.” I think I might know a few men who do.

While I don’t lay the blame for America’s chauvinistic sexual deviancy at the feet of Donald Trump, what he “preaches” with impunity on his Twitter account, on Fox TV, and during MAGA rallies is morally indefensible and dangerously degenerative to Americans.

His morality is so untetheredthat he doesn’t qualify as a representative for our country. Few of our presidents to date have been paragons of virtue, but his is a whole different category of amorality. Many of them trafficked in selective morality, but this president seems to have selected the absence of such a thing.

“He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.” Proverbs 29:3

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:29

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Next time we’ll talk about the president’s inhumane immigration policies and his penchant for fomenting, anger, division, and violence among Americans.

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 3)

I’m praying for the president and first lady to fully recover from COVID-19. Though a harsh critic of his presidency, I recognize him as a fellow image bearer and as a beloved of God. I have no desire for him to be sick or worse.

Nevertheless, I will proceed to make available this series of posts on his danger to America as its leader. I mean no disrespect of him while his prognosis remains unsure, and I wish him well. But I feel it imperative to finish publishing these thoughts prior to the election on November 3rd.

In our first 2 episodes we listed Donald Trump’s dishonesty, ignorance, evil associations, mismanagement of the pandemic, and overlooking the poor and vulnerable. Wait. There’s more! Much more.

When he was elected many people reasoned that he would grow into the office. Instead of growing into the position, he has learned how to abuse its powers and reframe the office in his own image. The damage of a second term, in my opinion would have even graver consequences.

In this post let’s look at his supposed pro-life stance, his white nationalist ideology, and his foreign policy (such as it is).

• Though he claims to be “the greatest pro-life president in history” he’s a danger to the unborn and to the born.

I risk being voted off the island for saying such things, but if he really were “pro-life,” and not just “pro-birth” (which is highly suspect), he would propose and enact alternatives for poor women, like resources for single mothers, childcare for working mothers, and educational opportunities in poor communities. These kinds of “pro-life” initiatives, which have been proven to reduce the number of abortions, are the furthest things from the president’s mind.

Abortion and economic inequality are clearly related. A poor woman is five times more likely to get an abortion than one who is affluent. Not surprisingly, abortion rates increased during the Great Recession because women were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to afford a child in that economy.

If we provide better support for women who want to deliver but feel they don’t have that option, we would be moving the needle much more than if we simply rant against abortion and hope the next president and the Supreme Court will overturn Roe.

From where I sit, Donald Trump is not pro-life in any sort of consistent way. His policies on social justice, immigration, earth-care, gun control, women, or race do more to raise the abortion rate than trying to reduce it by putting conservative justices on the Court.

“Woe to those who issue unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” Isaiah 10:1-2

“Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence! Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land.” Amos 8:4

• His white nationalist ideology is a danger not only to people of color, but to the entire nation.

Is Donald Trump a racist? All I know is that he repeatedly demeans people of color and undermines legislation that would benefit Black and Brown communities. Whatever his private beliefs are he has become a rallying point for white nationalists in America and around the world. He has blatantly stoked racist attitudes and failed to condemn the dangerous growing movement of militant white nationalism. 

Just in last night’s presidential debate he refused to disavow a violent self-proclaimed white nationalist group. Instead of telling them to “stand down” as the moderator suggested, he told them to “stand by,” which the leaders of the group took to mean marching orders to perpetrate violent acts when call on to do so.

His incendiary speeches and inhumane policies often indicate a clear disposition toward a whiter America, which is a danger to both non-whites and whites alike. Like Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Nationalism thrives on intolerance of “the other” and is the very antithesis of the biblical thesis of our human unity based on our common possession of God’s image.

Whether or not he is a racist, he clearly foments the forces of hate and intolerance. He attracts allegiance from white supremacists, some of whom, while praising his ideology, go on to murder people of color!  (Case in point, the man who crossed state lines to murder as many Mexicans as possible in El Paso.)

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” Acts 17:26

As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife. Proverbs 26:21

• His “foreign policy” (if you can call it a policy) and associations with other world leaders is reckless and dangerous to America and the world.

Former National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said that the president not only does not know the difference between the truth and lies, his refusal to listen to the experts is a threat to national security.

He praises autocrats (from North Korea, Brazil, Russia, and formerly China), alienates our allies (in Britain, Mexico, Germany, France), turns his back on the vulnerable with whom we had protection agreements (the Syrian Kurds), and taunts our enemies (Iran and Venezuela).

Madeleine Albright who represented the U.S. as ambassador to the UN and later as secretary of state said recently: “Another four years of this, and it really is going to be increasingly difficult to persuade anybody that we are going to be dependable partners.”

No one possessing his loose a relationship with the truth, such an unhinged temperament and sophomoric understanding of the world at large should be in possession of the nuclear “football”!

“Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.” Proverbs 25:19

“Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.” Isaiah 1:23

• His scorn of the science of climate change and his pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement is a danger now and for future generations.

He rejected his own government’s extensive report of the planet’s warming, which states: “Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities…. The warming trend observed over the past century can only be explained by the effects that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, have had on the climate.”

Since being in office, the president has overruled or rolled back over a hundred environmental regulations, all of which were essential changes needed in order to make this a livable planet for our grandchildren. His 2021 budget proposes slashing the Environmental Protection Agency by about $2.4 billion from last year’s budget of about $6.4 billion. He promotes the mining of coal (the worst carbon polluter), reversed measures to demand more gasoline efficient cars, and weakened other important environmental policies. 

I ask, what’s more “conservative” (not to mention, “biblical”) than conserving our natural resources, making sure we have enough for the future, and not wasting them like we are today? The tragic irony is that the world’s poorest people, who contribute the least to climate change, will suffer first and worst.

God created the world and gave it to us to steward. Trashing it says a lot about how one thinks about the Creator.

“If the very ground that I farm accuses me, if even the furrows fill with tears from my abuse, If I’ve ever raped the earth for my own profit or dispossessed its rightful owners, then curse it with thistles instead of wheat, curse it with weeds instead of barley.” Job 31:38-40 (The Message)

“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

Next time we’ll look at a few more dangers that Donald Trump poses to America: bribery, rejection of common sense gun laws, and misogyny.

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 2)

Welcome back to further evidence of Donald Trump’s danger to America.

Someone wanted to know why I’m even going through this exercise. First, it’s because a friend asked me why I think he dangerous and not just inadequate to the office of president. Also I’m concerned for those in my own tribe of Jesus followers who haven’t yet come to terms with this and intend to vote for him again. I think that would be a grave mistake, both to their own consciences and to the country were he to win another term on the backs of Evangelicals.

Last time I spoke about his sociopathic lying and his dearth of wisdom, knowledge and skill to run the country. Here you’ll find a number of other reasons I think he’s dangerous. First:

• Rather than experienced and wise counterparts, he surrounds himself with flattering sycophants, many of whom have no more experience in government than he does.

Not mention that over a dozen of his advisors have been charged with crimes, seven of whom have been convicted and sentenced. And some of those he has pardoned or had their sentence commuted.

I remember distinctly before he was elected how his supporters comforted themselves with the notion that though he was inexperienced, he would invite experienced and knowledgeable people into his advisory circle. Well, for the most part, that hasn’t happened, and when it has, anyone who had the courage to stand up to him, he fired, often by proxy or tweet.

It’s hard to keep track of everyone those whom he brought in and then pushed out. By one count it’s up to about 60 different dismissals or resignations of high level members of his administration.

If he can’t fire his detractors he sabotages their careers and publicly insults them with impunity even to the point of denigrating them after they’re dead! He’s the “Insulter in Chief,” the White House Rodney Dangerfield.

“Remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.” Proverbs 25:5

“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” Proverbs 17:28

• His inept and deceptive mishandling of the pandemic has turned out to be a clear and present danger to the country, if not to the world.

He didn’t spawn COVID-19, but he has bungled it dreadfully and led the country into the world’s largest number of cases and deaths. Despite his claims that we’ve done better than most other countries, most of them have dealt with the virus far more competently. To date, of developed nations in the world, Brazil, Spain, and Belgium are the only ones with higher deaths per million citizens, and that by a tiny margin. The U.S. has 4% of the world’s population and has had 20% of the world’s deaths by COVID.

Though he knew better, in January he said it was no big deal and, “We have it all under control.” The next month he claimed that it will magically go away by April. In March the experts told him a vaccine could take a year to eighteen months, but he insisted it would be more like a few months. At that time he compared it to the flu while the epidemiologists said if not brought under control could kill millions. While states were begging for non-existent testing equipment he claimed that anyone who wants a test can be tested.

To date, we have had nearly 7 million cases and over 200,000 deaths from the virus, which is now the third largest cause of death in America. During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Mr. Trump claimed that we have proportionately fewer deaths from the virus than any other major country, which was a bald-faced lie. During the four days of the RNC in August, 2020 more Americans died of the virus than in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He has repeatedly minimized its threat while waffling, denying science, and politicizing the disease. He passes on ridiculous conspiracy theories about cures and then denies that he did. He constantly claims that more testing creates more cases. This, of course, isn’t true. More testing would reveal cases where they already exist, making it possible to try to understand the disease’s course and arrest its spread.

If that weren’t enough, we have him on tape from back in February saying that he knew the virus was “deadly” but, because he didn’t want to create a panic, he “played it down.” After the recording was aired he admitted that he downplayed it, and then a few days later he said he never played it down!

Plus, if “panic” weren’t his favorite political weapon one might consider chalking up his downplaying of the virus to gross mismanagement and terrible leadership of a nation of people who just want the truth. But he routinely weaponizes panic at every juncture. Fear of immigrants, economic devastation, Antifa, the media, the Democrats, the loss of religious liberty, and socialism, you name it, panic is his weapon of choice. But a deadly pandemic is somehow no big deal? It’s just like a flu that will magically go away with the warm weather.

His claim that he wanted to protect our citizens from panic is preposterous and disingenuous.  

“Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.” Proverbs 25:19

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” Proverbs 11:14

“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Proverbs 12:15

“If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?” Proverbs 24:12

• He’s a danger to poor and marginalized communities.

His tax bill widened the gap between rich and poor to an even more disgusting distance, as well as increased the national debt. He lowered taxes for the upper class under the guise that they’ll hire the under class, which most never did. He advantages the wealthy and threatens Social Security and Medicare for those who need it most.

Demonstrating his utter ignorance of the average American he said recently that every American is in the stock market! He was born into wealth and is blind to the needs of everyone not in his tax bracket.

While we’re talking about his great wealth, Donald Trump is the first president in modern history that stubbornly refuses to divulge his tax returns.Can this mean anything but a cover up? He’s had five years of obfuscating on this and nothing. If he has nothing to hide, well what’s the hold up? That’s exactly what it is––a “hold up.” We’ve been held at gunpoint since he took office. I don’t feel safe under the leadership of someone who obviously has so much to hide and expends so much effort on hiding it.

His 2021 budget proposal contains deep cuts in student loan assistance, affordable housing programs, food stamps, and Medicaid (which is healthcare for poor Americans).
Despite promises to replace the Obama Care, he has done nothing to improve the health care system in four years. People without health insurance fail to seek medical attention as soon as they should and, as a result, they die younger.
Sounds like a pretty grave danger to me!

“A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.” Proverbs 28:3

“If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.” Proverbs 29:14

Next time we’ll look at his supposed pro-life stance, his white nationalist ideology, his foreign policy, and his scorn of the science of climate change.

Blessed are the Broke

The narcissist has no redemptive influence on a culture that is already obsessed with itself. He can’t fit others into his heart because it’s already full of himself. He has fabricated his own role in life to write, produce, direct, and star in his own autobiographical docudrama. He only reaches out to others when he needs “extras” to make him look good by appearing in the background and reading the lines he gives them.

On the other hand, those who concede their deficiency are the best consensus-builders. They know what they’re made of and treat others with humility. Like all good servants, willing to subordinate their own desires, they devote themselves to making other people successful. Biblical “justice” occurs when people are willing to “disadvantage themselves to advantage others.” The wicked “disadvantage the community to advantage themselves.”

“God cannot fill what is full. He can fill only emptiness – deep poverty. It is not how much we really “have” to give – but how empty we are – so that we can receive fully in our life and let him live his life in us. Take away your eyes from yourself and rejoice that you have nothing.” Mother Teresa

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 1)

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“This president poses such a clear and present danger to the things we should value most that I think it’s incumbent on all of us who believe that to say something.” Jon Meacham

“When the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.” Proverbs 28:12

Many years ago as a young pastor I read a book called, Bringing Out the Best in People, and had our leadership team read it too. It’s something every leader, whether of a church, a company, or a country should aspire to do. I believe that Donald Trump, instead of bringing out the best, he has brought out the worst in American culture. By word and deed he has emboldened his fans to release the darkest of human impulses. He has cleared the way for those shadowy instincts to be expressed in our national conversation and political interactions. It’s not his fault that we’re bad, but his influence has, like a hurricane, brought up the raw sewage that hid beneath the surface.

This is the danger of Donald Trump. His influence has normalized vitriol, lies, relativism, and violence. When he stands before God, I believe these are things for which he’ll be judged. Instead of making America great, it’s my opinion that he has brought out the worst.

The nature of demagogic leaders is to appeal to the basest parts in human nature. A cursory evaluation of all historical demagogues––both fascist and communist––will reveal this unique “skill” to give permission to the lowest of human propensities.  While Mr. Trump may not qualify for that particular list of usual suspects, his leadership style opaquely mirrors those who drug their countries into subhuman behaviors, that apart from the historical record, no one in the “civilized” world would believe it.

Donald Trump is not just subpar or simply inadequate to the task. I think he’s dangerous for his policies, his personality, his persona, his approach to governing, and his character. It’s my view that the relentless tornado of chaos and moral debasement that he brings to the table is toxic to our national wellbeing.

Theologian Ron Sider says, “Trump is a significant danger to our country, a man with no moral core, someone who is psychologically disturbed, a political and religious con artist, and the most incompetent president we have ever had.”

My list of specific dangers he poses, albeit incomplete, is conscience-driven and rooted in my understanding of Jesus and his Bible. While you may come to other conclusions about Mr. Trump, I hope you’ll at least give these a quick read or listen and apply your own critical thought.

Please note that rather than labeling and name-calling I identify his behavior. I don’t call him a “liar” but I do call him out for lying. That may seem like too-fine a distinction, but to me it’s a matter of civility and retaining the dignity of fellow image bearers. Plus, I hate labeling and being labeled by others. It’s too broad a brush and too narrow a box to put people in.

Note also that my objections are not based on my personal preference or party affiliation. I’m not, as some have labeled me, a “hater.” Nor am I a lib, a snowflake, a progressive, or even a Democrat. I have no party nor do I ascribe to any political category. I’m just a guy who loves Jesus, studies the Bible, and applies it to all things, politics included.

I started this project intending to lay down a short list of concise bullet-points. But it wasn’t long before it grew beyond the length of one blog or video episode. So I’ve broken it up into more achievable sections. I hope you’ll stick with me through the entire list. These aren’t in order of importance, nor do I make an effort to corroborate these with links or references. If you’re interested in those I suggest that you Google them yourself. I think you’ll find that all of the things to which I refer are common knowledge and none of them misdemeanor infractions or lapses of judgment on Mr. Trump’s part.

From where I sit most of these points by themselves constitute a danger to the country, if not the world, but adding them all together makes a pretty solid case.

OK, here we go…

• What could be more of a danger to our democratic form of government than a Commander in Chief untethered from truth?

This president liesabout anything and everything. I presume it’s been his habit throughout his life, but certainly for the last 5 years. He lies about things that don’t matter like crowd size and how many times he’s been on the cover of Time Magazine. And he lies about things that really matter, like national security, the pandemic threat, and the content of conversations he has with world leaders.

I believe he can’t help himself. It’s pathological. He’s broken and unhinged and he lies so frequently that his fan base is anesthetized to it. Someone said, “He lies about the time of day while standing under a clock. He lies so often it must be considered involuntary and incurable. To him all truths are elitist lies perpetuated by those who did not like him.” Yes, all politicians lie, and we’ve caught many presidents, governors, and members of congress in fabrications. But nothing, I repeat, nothing like this.

Again Ron Sider wrote, “You simply can’t trust a leader who pathologically lies. Couple Trump’s relentless lying with his utter remorselessness about it, and you have a dangerous mix of defects in the president that will continue to cause great harm to our country and countries around the world.”

“Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!” Proverbs 17:7

“Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.” Isaiah 9:16

• Without the slightest knowledge, wisdom, or acumen to run the executive branch of our government Donald Trump is a danger to all Americans.

He admits he doesn’t read but gets his lion’s share of news from cable TV, FOX News in particular. Under the guise of “draining the swamp” he refuses to inform himself about the workings of government and its traditions. There are some good ones after all. 

He doesn’t know how to pronounce “Yosemite” or “Thailand” (let alone know where they are). He thought Andrew Jackson could have stopped the Civil War, which is funny since Jackson died 20 years before the war started. He thought Canada burned down the White House during the war of 1812 and didn’t know that Lincoln was a Republican. When he visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial he had to ask an advisor, “What’s this a tour of?”

Ignorance is different than deceit and can be even more dangerous. What he learned from the cutthroat world of high-end real estate, casino ownership, and reality TV might have made him a lot of money but doesn’t qualify him to run the country.

Longtime conservative pundit George Will said, “He is as bewildered as a kindergartener at a seminar on string theory.” I for one don’t feel safe with a person of his intellectual caliber in possession of the nuclear football.

“By me (wisdom) kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just.” Proverbs 8:15

“Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2

Next time we’ll look at the advisors he surrounds himself with, his handling of the Coronavirus, his treatment of the poor, and the effect of his impeachment.

Upside Down Attitudes

These Beatitude Attitudes are so contrary to the conventions of our culture that anyone who possesses them will be branded a freak. Rife with paradox, Jesus’ way catches us off guard. He suggests, for instance, that the wealthy are poor and the poor are wealthy. Winners lose while losers end up winning. Conventional wisdom suggests that this is just not the way the world works. If you live Jesus’ way you’ll be out of step with the culture that marches to a different beat. Sadly, some of the people with whom you worship every Sunday will protest the loudest.

Have you noticed that his terms like poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger, thirsting, mercy, and persecution all suggest a vulnerability, a weakness if you will? Not surprising since Jesus is nothing if not a King that chose to make his entrance here as needy and weak. Born in a barn, raised in relative poverty, homeless as an adult, riding a donkey’s back at his coronation procession, breathing his last on a criminal’s cross, buried in a borrowed cave. Paul embraced the paradox. “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

These are excerpts from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

What’s In It For Us?

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.” (Matthew 6:1 -The Message Bible)

“It is possible for a man to be self-centered in his self-denial and self-righteous in his self-sacrifice,” preached Martin Luther King. “He may be generous in order to feed his ego and pious in order to feed his pride. Man has the tragic capacity to relegate a heightening virtue to a tragic vice. Without love, benevolence becomes egotism, and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride.”

Some hunger for the righteousness that promises earthly rewards and some heavenly, but the better reward––whether in the hereafter or the here and now––is to live the best version of ourselves while enjoying intimacy with the Rewarder himself. The most exquisite rewards are those that come from living so near him that you hear his whisper in your ear and feel his heart beating inside your chest.

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This is an excerpt from my upcoming book on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus’ Third Way

Jesus does not urge stoic passivity, which can be a cloak for weakness. He summons us to the kind of active resistance rooted in love that reveals pure strength of character. Anyone can strike back. It doesn’t require great strength to retaliate. Jesus’ third way is not for the weak, but exclusively for the meek.

If you are meek your opponents may use their weapon of choice but you won’t let them choose yours for you. You refuse to let them determine your response. You are determined from within. They may hit you emotionally, even physically, but you can choose to give the Holy Spirit something to work with by returning spiritual blows. They try to break your self-confidence while you break open their hearts so the Spirit can seep through the cracks.

As Pope Francis recently declared, “A culture of nonviolence is not an unattainable dream, but a path that has produced decisive results. The consistent practice of nonviolence has broken barriers, bound wounds, healed nations.”

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

The Collective “Ouch!”

Blessed are those who mourn.

Jesus neither instructs us to drown in our sorrows in perpetual melancholy nor to drown our sorrows in the intoxicants of happy thoughts and positive confessions. Many, while failing to weep with the Father over his broken beloveds, buoy themselves by singing victory choruses and filling their pockets with promise box verses. But bone-crushing poverty, humans being bought and sold, school shootings, and senseless wars over oil beg us to cry “Ouch!”

I remember the Sunday following one of our country’s many mass shootings in which fifteen people lost their lives and many were wounded. I went to church hoping for an opportunity to shed some tears with brothers and sisters and pray for the survivors, when all we did was sing snappy songs, listen to a sermon on how to be prosperous, and pray for pay raises. I left that service with yet another tragedy to mourn on my own.

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.